Cale and Pete at the top of the "Lung Buster" Its downhill from here... well, almost!
The view out over "Horse Gulch", Durango is in the next valley.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Chini's Secret trail !
Cale and Pete at the top of the "Lung Buster" Its downhill from here... well, almost! The view out over "Horse Gulch", Durango is in the next valley.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Moab Link
Hey guys, check out http://addictedtobicycles.blogspot.com/ and see what my trusty support dog LG had to say... gives you an idea of the wind ! Out.
Monday, October 13, 2008
24 Hours of Moab
This is a pic of the Legend Larry (LG) from Squirt Lube - Larry has done the race MANY times and been on support virtually every year that he hasn't raced. He did an amazing job of predicting what I needed to eat, charging my batteries, generally sorting everything out for me. Larry, you are a legend. Thanks to Squirt lube for all of their support - this race was an amazing experience - thanks Dewet! Thanks also to Ay-UP lighting systems who lent me some AMAZING lights for the race - Cheers mate!
Actually, 25 hours of Moab! I learned a new american word... BROOODALL! That about sums it up - a brutal course with insane weather.
I managed to sneak onto the podium - click here for images and a movie of the event. There was a really enthusiastic, eccentric cameraman from superhumanmag.com ... he asked some dirty questions and got some appropriate answers... kids block your ears!!
From the Gun, Tostado went out like a man possessed. I decided to stick with Tinker and Eatough - they have a better track record - thought that Josh (Tostado) was going out a little too crazy! The course was incredibly technical -
There were places that were severely technical at the start of the race... the track aged and deteriorated and by the time nightfall came, it was impossible to ride everything.
Enduren is the bomb! I couldn't imagine drinking sweet flavoured sports drinks for 24hours - my tongue would fall off! My bike ran like a dream, the only thing that we did was apply some squirt lube every 3 hours or so... everything came together, I was very fortunate. The lights worked amazingly well too - so with far from ideal race preparation, it all came together for me. Mostly due to the support of my family, friends and sponsors - without that network of helping hands, there is just no way that anyone can be competitive at an event like this.
At around 1am, my body was a wreck. If you watch the video on superhuman.com , you will get an idea of how harsh the course actually was - we just don't have trails like this open in South Africa - that I am aware of anyway - if there is anything comparable, let me know because this stuff was seriously challenging! Super fun to ride... when you are fresh and have the right setup!
10am rolled around, LG had a sweet cappuccino ready for me - perfect! ... only problem was that I needed to do 2 more laps, not 1 ! But at the time it was a very good idea - Ben(4th) was chasing me and I had to do a hot lap to keep him at bay and stop him from attacking (very slight possiblity but not impossible). Anyway, I came into the Start/Finish at 11h20. Rules state that the winner is the oke with that completes the most laps, if laps are equal then time counts. You are only allowed out to start a lap if you get through the Start/Finish in under 24hours. This meant that if I stopped at that point, Ben would have to be at least 40min behind me - so I had to soldier on... its seriously difficult after doing a "fast" lap (and 23+ hours of racing!!)
So I took it easy - the course was quietening down, every body part was aching - especially my recently fractured wrist which took a pounding on all of the harsh rocky decents. It was pretty tranquil - taking my time admiring the rock formations and appreciating the spectacular terrain - its easy to drift off and stop racing! On the last climb, about 4km from the finish, this guy starts charging up behind me - number 49 - is this Ben? I wasn't sure an wasn't about to stop and ask - game on! WhaBAM ! Hammer down, full on race effort... phew - 2km later, he is gone! Then literally 1km from the line, here comes #51. How many Solo riders were there again? Well, I wasn't about to take any chances - maybe it was this Ben guy - Whammy! Another sprint - full on interval all the way to the line to be greeted by Pete and LG with an ice cold beer. Pain over, job done. Bliss. Thanks okes!!
Thursday, October 09, 2008
USA - Autumn (I've had enough Fall'ing this year!)
Hey guys,
The USA is definitely heading for a cold winter - temps here are sub-zero every night... rain is predicted for the 24h Moab , EISH!
I met with Larry from Squirt Lube who is going to be supporting me for the race - I stopped over at his pad in Eagle, CO - we rode a trail called "the Boneyard", it was off the hook - absolutely amazing - bermed flowing track that just makes you feel alive. Life is GOOD! Check out Larry's Blog here He is crazy - been racing since 1984 and has done the 24h Moab many times... I am in good hands! Thanks LG !!
Here is a shot of Pete Kenyon, an old school buddy who takes me under his wing whenever I am in Colorado - Thanks Pete! This shot is on the way up to the trailhead... just past Tom Cruize's winter mansion!
Telluride is sprctacular at this time of year, check out the vista from out on the trail... the singletrack contours around into that grove of yellow aspen trees, and then heads down, down, down !!
The USA is definitely heading for a cold winter - temps here are sub-zero every night... rain is predicted for the 24h Moab , EISH!
I met with Larry from Squirt Lube who is going to be supporting me for the race - I stopped over at his pad in Eagle, CO - we rode a trail called "the Boneyard", it was off the hook - absolutely amazing - bermed flowing track that just makes you feel alive. Life is GOOD! Check out Larry's Blog here He is crazy - been racing since 1984 and has done the 24h Moab many times... I am in good hands! Thanks LG !!
Here is a shot of Pete Kenyon, an old school buddy who takes me under his wing whenever I am in Colorado - Thanks Pete! This shot is on the way up to the trailhead... just past Tom Cruize's winter mansion!
Telluride is sprctacular at this time of year, check out the vista from out on the trail... the singletrack contours around into that grove of yellow aspen trees, and then heads down, down, down !!
Friday, September 19, 2008
G4 Challenge Round 1
ADVENTURE.
4 rounds of selections were held in the Western Cape in order to find the best 10 men and 10 women to go through to further National Selections that will be held in Lesotho. Amazing stuff. Thanks to Land Rover SA for supporting all of us - it was a priveledge to take part in the first round of selections.
Well done to Iain and Su Don-Wauchope for making the automatic selection to the next round - respect!
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Jeep Msinsi Multi-Cross
1st Place
These races are great for crosstraining and getting some intensity training - unfortunately you do need to do some running training if you don't want to have stiff legs for a week after the event !!
These races are great for crosstraining and getting some intensity training - unfortunately you do need to do some running training if you don't want to have stiff legs for a week after the event !!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Mugg n Bean 24 Hour
24hours
365.8km
6572m vertical ascent
14 hot cross buns
1/2 packet apples
1 bunch of bananas
3L Grape Juice
3L Enduren Sports Drink
6L Water
2 packets of biltong
8 honey and peanut butter sandwiches
5 baked potatoes
1 crazy cyclist
Is this a recipe for fun!?? Well it was. Painful, but worth it! Prime Circle, Spoon Feedas and some other supporting bands played at a live music concert whilst we rode through the night - well done to Richard Beswick on a great concept, maybe next year we can ride through/above the crowds !?? Or maybe do a compulsory crowd surf at 1am for a time bonus ?!?!
Nissan are giving me an X-Trail to use for a month - its going to be delivered shortly - thanks guys !!
This was perfect prep for the 24 Hours of Moab which is in a month's time. Its held in Moab, Utah which is just a 3 hour drive from where my daughter lives :-) Can't wait to get there and spend some time with Karlee !!
Click here for Maropeng race report.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Howick Highlander
2nd Overall, 1st SUB-VET !
Hey, at least I won something!! So grey hair has its benefits :-) The trails around Howick are slowly coming to life again - they are being cleared out again and opened up... it will be a while until the forests regrow after the big fire, but its something to look forward to !! Luckily it wasn't too hot, perfect end of winter weather here made for a nice turnout - nearly 900 riders :-)
The venue was a win - the Karkloof farmers market has great facilities, this race is going to grow BEEEEG! Well done to the 1st Howick Scouts (my old troop!) for a professionally run event!
Check out the Highlander website.
Hey, at least I won something!! So grey hair has its benefits :-) The trails around Howick are slowly coming to life again - they are being cleared out again and opened up... it will be a while until the forests regrow after the big fire, but its something to look forward to !! Luckily it wasn't too hot, perfect end of winter weather here made for a nice turnout - nearly 900 riders :-)
The venue was a win - the Karkloof farmers market has great facilities, this race is going to grow BEEEEG! Well done to the 1st Howick Scouts (my old troop!) for a professionally run event!
Check out the Highlander website.
Friday, July 18, 2008
TransAlp 2008
Good weather :-)
This shot is from 1/3 of the way up this climb ! EISH, but I can't believe!
Look closely... those are not ants!!
25th overall, 5th in the last stage :-)
What can I say - Europe is amazing - was great getting back into real racing in the alps. There is nothing like riding uphill for 2 hours solid and then decending for 40km - SICK !
Thanks to Shane, Syd, Braam, Brenda and everyone for making it all happen - respect.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Friday, June 06, 2008
Dusi Mfula 2008
Dave (aka Themba) is riding like a KING ! Check out the following video for a taste of what we can expect on SuperSport... click here
Day 1
Awesome track. This riding is unique to the Duzi Mfula - totally wild african track... footpaths, goat paths, chicken paths, Nguni paths, even snake paths! I am not kidding - check this photo that I took in the valley... with the camera on my phone - sorry for the bad quality!
No, those are not bonsai trees. Anyway, as I was saying, those snake tracks make a coulpe of nasty sharp turns. I think it was after a shebeen sometime past the Mfula store, we saw some guys in the bushes. They looked familiar... can't think why. 
Eish. Anyway, I digress. Somewhere in that vicinity, the snakes obviously get thirsty, causing them to drink copious amounts of brown amber. Their trails make some really severe bends as a result. Unfortunately, one of these took me unawares (the bend, not the beer) and I managed to do a Damm-eje to my wrist. Dave rode like a man posessed, I think he had seen one too many snakes in the Valley. We managed to pull a 7 min gap on 2nd place by the finish. "Muchle Impele, Themba!"
Day 2
Not too much action today. No big attacks - we rode off the front a couple of times but I had to pull the reins in and ride smart. The course prep was awesome, GI (the course designer) put in a lot of effort - nice one captain. Ja, so we rode into the finish with Spider Warr and Iain Don Wauchope - a furious sprint to the line got the better of us but hey... who is counting the seconds on GC anyway !!??
Now its time to put in some "high meters", as the austrians call them, in preparation for the Transalps. (we call them Mothers and GRANDmothers)
SALAKAHLE !
Day 1
Awesome track. This riding is unique to the Duzi Mfula - totally wild african track... footpaths, goat paths, chicken paths, Nguni paths, even snake paths! I am not kidding - check this photo that I took in the valley... with the camera on my phone - sorry for the bad quality!
No, those are not bonsai trees. Anyway, as I was saying, those snake tracks make a coulpe of nasty sharp turns. I think it was after a shebeen sometime past the Mfula store, we saw some guys in the bushes. They looked familiar... can't think why. 
Eish. Anyway, I digress. Somewhere in that vicinity, the snakes obviously get thirsty, causing them to drink copious amounts of brown amber. Their trails make some really severe bends as a result. Unfortunately, one of these took me unawares (the bend, not the beer) and I managed to do a Damm-eje to my wrist. Dave rode like a man posessed, I think he had seen one too many snakes in the Valley. We managed to pull a 7 min gap on 2nd place by the finish. "Muchle Impele, Themba!"Day 2
Not too much action today. No big attacks - we rode off the front a couple of times but I had to pull the reins in and ride smart. The course prep was awesome, GI (the course designer) put in a lot of effort - nice one captain. Ja, so we rode into the finish with Spider Warr and Iain Don Wauchope - a furious sprint to the line got the better of us but hey... who is counting the seconds on GC anyway !!??
Now its time to put in some "high meters", as the austrians call them, in preparation for the Transalps. (we call them Mothers and GRANDmothers)
SALAKAHLE !
Monday, May 12, 2008
Karkloof Festival 2008
Night Race
This one is always fun! The pace was fast and furious for the first lap (2 lap race). I got switched into a Mud hole 5k into the race and picked up some foliage, nearly taking Dave out in the process. I also did my bit to sweep the course for the riders behind me by carrying a pile of fern leaves hanging from my pedal for a few km!
Guys were all over the place - its easy to overcook the corners when you can't really see whats coming up! Equipment makes a world of difference - theres big advantage to having a good lighting system.
After lap 1, Dave and I came through the Start/Finish together just ahead of Oliver Munnik. Oli chased hard to catch us on the drag up to the first singletrac. Thats when my light mount broke. No worries, I switched on my 'backup' helmet light, but that lasted 5 min. Eish. So Oliver and Dave dropped me in the technical stuff. I brushed through a really soft looking bush ... it turned out to be a tree with a big hard sawn off branch in the middle of it. Ouch. At least the war wounds look cool.
Dave dropped Oli on the final climb, so it was a 3rd and 5th for Fullimput - not a bad start to the festival ! Nice one Themba! (that's dave's nickname... actually his second name).
Cross Country
I woke up on Saturday feeling drained and with flu symptoms and heavy gastro. So I put all the pressure onto Dave to fly the Fullimput banner! He played the wise option of tapping back on the XC, saving himself for the sprint shootout. Barry Hulett, the course designer did an amazing job - loads of flowing singletrac and enough technical stuff to take a couple of victims out there :) Nice one Baz. This is my favourite XC course in Natal, for sure! (I practiced it the week before the race).
Sprint Shootout
Its a tough game. Brandon got eliminated when he burped his rear tyre. Renay snapped his chain. The final was really exciting! Dave got switched into the side of the bridge, forcing him to stop which lost enough time to get him eliminated. Johan van Zyl flew the GT flag high to claim victory in the event - nice one MR.49% !!
75km Classic
The big one. Every year the course gets better. The locals put a helluva lot of effort into making it fun and challenging. This years course was even better than last and is undoubtably the finest marathon course on the South African circuit.
Mr 49% went out hard to claim the Hotspot, setting a hard pace for the rest of us! Mannie was on his wheel with a chase group of 6 of us. On Lebanon, Mr African (Heymans) put the hammer down showing his class to take the KOM and stay away till the line. I fell off the chase group, the pace was just too hot. Dave joined me. Riding the conservative race definitely paid off - I caught JP Pearton at the airstrip (about 25km from finish), Mark Bass 15km later and then Brandon about 3km from the line. Johan took a wrong turn, following the motorbike instead of the course markings which cost him 5th place. So its a 3rd place for XLB ! Super stoked to be on the podium at Karkloof again! Melt rode a solid race to come 2nd. Dave rode a solid race to come in 7th. Lekker.
This one is always fun! The pace was fast and furious for the first lap (2 lap race). I got switched into a Mud hole 5k into the race and picked up some foliage, nearly taking Dave out in the process. I also did my bit to sweep the course for the riders behind me by carrying a pile of fern leaves hanging from my pedal for a few km!
Guys were all over the place - its easy to overcook the corners when you can't really see whats coming up! Equipment makes a world of difference - theres big advantage to having a good lighting system.
After lap 1, Dave and I came through the Start/Finish together just ahead of Oliver Munnik. Oli chased hard to catch us on the drag up to the first singletrac. Thats when my light mount broke. No worries, I switched on my 'backup' helmet light, but that lasted 5 min. Eish. So Oliver and Dave dropped me in the technical stuff. I brushed through a really soft looking bush ... it turned out to be a tree with a big hard sawn off branch in the middle of it. Ouch. At least the war wounds look cool.
Dave dropped Oli on the final climb, so it was a 3rd and 5th for Fullimput - not a bad start to the festival ! Nice one Themba! (that's dave's nickname... actually his second name).
Cross Country
I woke up on Saturday feeling drained and with flu symptoms and heavy gastro. So I put all the pressure onto Dave to fly the Fullimput banner! He played the wise option of tapping back on the XC, saving himself for the sprint shootout. Barry Hulett, the course designer did an amazing job - loads of flowing singletrac and enough technical stuff to take a couple of victims out there :) Nice one Baz. This is my favourite XC course in Natal, for sure! (I practiced it the week before the race).
Sprint Shootout
Its a tough game. Brandon got eliminated when he burped his rear tyre. Renay snapped his chain. The final was really exciting! Dave got switched into the side of the bridge, forcing him to stop which lost enough time to get him eliminated. Johan van Zyl flew the GT flag high to claim victory in the event - nice one MR.49% !!
75km Classic
The big one. Every year the course gets better. The locals put a helluva lot of effort into making it fun and challenging. This years course was even better than last and is undoubtably the finest marathon course on the South African circuit.
Mr 49% went out hard to claim the Hotspot, setting a hard pace for the rest of us! Mannie was on his wheel with a chase group of 6 of us. On Lebanon, Mr African (Heymans) put the hammer down showing his class to take the KOM and stay away till the line. I fell off the chase group, the pace was just too hot. Dave joined me. Riding the conservative race definitely paid off - I caught JP Pearton at the airstrip (about 25km from finish), Mark Bass 15km later and then Brandon about 3km from the line. Johan took a wrong turn, following the motorbike instead of the course markings which cost him 5th place. So its a 3rd place for XLB ! Super stoked to be on the podium at Karkloof again! Melt rode a solid race to come 2nd. Dave rode a solid race to come in 7th. Lekker.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Panorama Tour
Sub - Vet tour. Mixing it up with the ballies... well anyone who thought that Veteran racing was easy obviously hasn't raced against these okes - every second biltong man has a list of accolades longer than the Longtom Pass!! Respect to the ballies. AAAAii !
Donovan Jackson was dubbed "POWERHOUSE" by Paul, the race commentator... the name was fitting - this man has some serious form right now. We finished 4th overall and 2nd in the SubVet category on GC. Check out the official results and website here
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
National #1 Jonkershoek, Stellenbosch
What an opener! Sauser, Breintjies, Bundi - world class. These chaps really lifted our game. Burry looked set on teaching them a lesson but was forced to retire with mechanical problems. It was awesome seeing such support out on the track - loads of fans (why don't they come when just the SA'ns are riding !!??) Wicked. It really fires you up with all the support -thanks everyone !
Well I had a pearler of a race finishing 4th overall and 1st South African. This is the first time in the last 3 years that I have managed to get a decent base training period under my belt, it seems to be paying off already. Hopefully this is a shade of things to come - watch out - XLB is back ! Gary Perkin took some awesome photos out on the course, images HERE.
Well I had a pearler of a race finishing 4th overall and 1st South African. This is the first time in the last 3 years that I have managed to get a decent base training period under my belt, it seems to be paying off already. Hopefully this is a shade of things to come - watch out - XLB is back ! Gary Perkin took some awesome photos out on the course, images HERE.
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